Unmade Plans
by thisiswhenwetalked
Summary: The timer on her phone goes off with a shrill ringing, not-so-subtly alerting Kate that the test is done. She takes a deep breath and reaches for the small stick in front of her.


**Inspired by copop83.**

* * *

She is jerked into alertness by the loud _thwack_ of a large file landing on her desk. She takes a moment to orient herself, lightly massaging her pounding forehead, and looks up at her assailant.

"Dozing on the job, Beckett? What, did you not get your daily caffeine drip?" says Esposito. Fixing him with a glare, she gestures to the file in front of her.

"What's this?"

"Paperwork for recent cold cases," he grumbles. "Gates wants us to make sure everything's in the system before they're in archives for good. Just busy work since we haven't had a case in a while."

Sighing, she mumbles a halfhearted "Thank you" before reaching for the file in question. She opens to the necessary page, and pulls up the corresponding program on her computer. She is about to make her way to the break room for her aforementioned caffeine, when she hears the elevator doors slide open, and Castle's usual boisterous greeting rings through the air.

"Good morning, Detective," he says, leaning over her to place a coffee cup on her desk.

"About time," she grumbles. Her hands dart for the cup and cling to it as if it were a lifeline. Off to the side, his face falls slightly, and she suddenly feels guilty. "I'm sorry," she says softly as she reaches to take his hand in hers. She rubs her thumb across the smooth skin of his wrist as she continues, "I'm just tired today, I guess. _Someone_ kept me up pretty late."

His sides of his mouth tilt upward in a lascivious grin. "I don't recall hearing you complain at the time," he replies in a low voice. "So," he continues, the cheerful lilt returning, "What have we got today?"

She gives his hand one last squeeze before returning it to her cup and taking a sip. Immediately, the coffee assaults her senses. The taste is all wrong, and the smell has her stomach doing somersaults. Grimacing, she jerks the cup away and delicately sets it down on the desk as if it were a bomb.

"Just, uh- just paperwork," she replies, still trying to quell the churning in her abdomen. "Gates has us logging cold cases into the system."

Castle sighs dramatically, leaning back in his chair and pulling out his phone to start a new game of Angry Birds. Why he _still_ plays that game after all this time is beyond her. Her brow furrows as her eyes settle on the traitor coffee cup. Where the hell did that come from?

"Hey, Castle?" He looks up at her expectantly. "Could you possibly get me a Diet Coke from the machine?"

"Uh, sure," he replies confusedly. She can see his eyes dart to the nearly untouched cup of coffee before heading down the hall. Beckett turns back to her computer and sets to work on the thick file in front of her. After a couple of minutes, Castle returns, setting a cold can next to the steaming coffee. She reaches for it wordlessly, hoping the caffeine will sooth her headache. Castle watches her silently for a moment before he speaks again.

"Are you okay? You barely touched your coffee."

She hesitates. "Yeah. I think I'm just getting a bug or something."

He doesn't look quite satisfied, but he lets it go nonetheless. As he pulls his phone back out of his pocket, she returns her gaze to her paperwork.

* * *

A few days later, and Beckett still feels like shit. Her headache fortunately subsided, but the nausea continues to rear its ugly head. More than once, these bouts of sickness resulted in Beckett heaving over the toilet in their bathroom as Castle held her hair.

Tonight, opening the door to the loft, she immediately smells the fresh aroma of her favorite chicken alfredo. Kicking off her heels and depositing her coat in the closet, she pads over to the kitchen. Castle is turned away from her, humming what sounds suspiciously like Adele as he stirs the creamy sauce. He flinches slightly when she wraps her arms around his waist, but relaxes into her as she places a kiss to the back of his neck. She hums contentedly.

"So you got my hint," she purrs.

He laughs softly. "Repeatedly declaring your craving for chicken alfredo all day long is not a hint, Beckett. It's a demand. But since you've barely eaten anything these past few days, I'm more than happy to oblige."

"And here I thought it was because you loved me," she replies, her smile evident in her voice.

"That too, I suppose." He puts down the spoon and turns in her arms, taking the opportunity to wrap his arms around her. He bends and softly presses his lips to hers. "How are you feeling?"

"Better, for now. Good enough to know that pasta smells amazing."

"Well, it should be done any minute. Set the table?"

She nods and gives him a soft peck before moving out of his arms. The table set, Castle brings over two bowls full of steaming pasta. And for the first time in almost a week, Beckett gets through a meal without feeling the need to bolt for the nearest toilet.

That night, Beckett busies herself in the bathroom while Castle lounges on their bed. She goes about her normal routine, gently wiping off today's makeup and washing her face. When she goes to use the bathroom, she notices Castle left an empty roll. Again. She sighs, and squats down to open the cabinet under the sink. As she reaches for a new roll, she notices an unopened box of tampons she bought near the end of her last cycle. Her brow furrows, trying to remember when that was. It couldn't be as long ago as she thought it was. After all, she should be starting again soon, right? She quickly reaches for her phone and opens the calendar app. Her eyes go wide.

Three weeks. She is three weeks late. But that would mean-

Oh. _Oh_-

the nausea-

the fatigue-

the cravings-

Oh god_._

No. She was _not_ pregnant. She couldn't be. She was just irregular, that's all. No reason to panic. Not until she could be sure.

She quickly closes the cabinet and finishes up in the bathroom. When she emerges, she quietly crawls under the sheets and murmurs a quick "goodnight" to Castle before turning away and pulling up the covers. She hears Castle put away his book, followed by the lamp being turned off. She feels his familiar warmth behind her, and his arm drapes protectively around her waist, his hand against her stomach.

* * *

The following evening, she arrives home first. He has been in Black Pawn meetings all day (_for absolutely no reason_, as he repeatedly told her throughout the day), and isn't supposed to be home for a couple of hours. She quickly makes her way to the bathroom with the plastic bag from the drug store down the street.

Once in the bathroom, she closes the door and dumps the bags contents onto the counter. She got two pregnancy tests, just to be sure. No need to freak out if she wasn't sure. She takes a deep breath. She opens the first box and reads the instructions.

A few minutes later, both pregnancy tests lie on the edge of the tub. Kate sits on the floor opposite, her knees tucked into her chest. What if she _is_ pregnant? Would Castle be happy? Would she be happy? She had assumed she would have kids at some point, but this was just so unexpected. She at least thought she would be married first. Not that that's not where she and Castle were headed anyway, they had talked about it a couple times, but- Jesus, would he _propose_? Her heart fluttered at the thought, but no. That is not how it should happen. Of all the ways she imagined Castle proposing to her, right after a pregnancy announcement was not one of them.

The timer on her phone went off with a shrill ringing, not-so-subtly alerting Kate that the tests were done. She runs her hands over her face and through her tangled hair. She takes a deep breath and reaches out for both tests at once.

A little blue plus sign adorns each.

Positive.

She's pregnant.

Oh god.

Her hand covers her open mouth as she falls back against the cabinet, and she cannot stop staring at the two sticks in her hand. She's pregnant. She runs her hand over her flat stomach, trying to imagine it a few months from now. She's _pregnant_. With Castle's kid. Castle. Oh god, how is she going to tell-

"Kate?"

She hears the front door closing, and scrambles to shove the tests and their boxes into the trash can. She stands, collects herself, and opens the bathroom door. Castle is making his way into their bedroom as she emerges.

"Hey," he says softly, reaching a hand out for her. She takes it, and he pulls her to him, finding her lips with his. "Meetings ended early." He pauses, taking her expression. "What's wrong?"

She hesitates. "Uh- nothing. Just, feeling sick again."

Castle's hand starts rubbing her back soothingly. "You want something light for dinner?" She nods, and he parts with another small kiss, heading to the kitchen.

Shit.

* * *

A few nights later, she drags herself into the loft after a long day. She massages her aching head with her fingertips, closing the door as quietly as possible. It's late, but as she makes her way into the kitchen, she notices the plate set out for her, ready to reheat.

"Hey there."

She looks up to see him emerging from the office. He pads over to her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

"Thanks for dinner. I didn't get a chance to eat much at the precinct."

"I figured. How are you feeling today?"

"Headache's back," she grumbles. He places a kiss to her temple.

"Want me to get you some tylenol?"

She hums her assent, but misses his warmth as he pulls away and heads for their room.

He enters the bathroom and starts rummaging through the drawers (they really should organize these better). After searching through almost every drawer, he finally finds the tylenol at the back of one near the bottom. He brandishes it triumphantly, but in his eagerness, he fumbles it, sending the bottle flying into the trash can. He carefully sifts through the trash until he finds it. But when he goes to pick up the bottle, something catches his eye. Leaning closer, he reaches in and carefully pulls out the pink box.

When he reads the label, his breath catches. Turning to make sure Kate isn't coming in search of him yet, he tentatively reaches inside and pulls out the two tests.

Positive.

How could he have missed that? Nausea, headaches, the weird appetite- how could he be so dense? He feels a warmth slowly unfurl in his chest as he gazes down at the tests. Kate is _pregnant._

But- she didn't tell him. She hid the tests. How long has she known? Why hasn't she told him? He grabs the tests and the tylenol and exits the bathroom.

She is too busy with her food to hear him step back into the living room.

"Kate."

She looks up. And she feels like she has been plunged into a tub of ice water.

"Castle-"

"Were you going to tell me?"

The hurt in his voice crushes her. She circles the bar and makes her way over to him, taking his hands in hers.

"_Of course_, I was going to tell you, Castle. I just- I wasn't sure how."

He lets out a breath, visibly relaxing. "So you weren't going to..."

He trails off, and she searches his features for a moment before she realizes.

"Oh, no, Castle. God, no. I would never. I just..." She pauses. Her next words are barely above a whisper. "I'm scared, Castle."

When she looks up at him, she's surprised to see a smile on his face. "Katherine Beckett. You are the most extraordinary woman I have ever met. And you are going to be the most amazing mother. I'll be with you every step of the way, I promise." His smile becomes luminescent, and he takes her face in his hands and presses his forehead to hers. "We're having a baby."

_We're having a baby._

All of a sudden, visions flashed before her. Castle's solid form standing in the stark white of a hospital room, cooing to the tiny bundle in his arms. At the beach, the delighted shrieks of a boy with his hair careening towards the water, only to be scooped up before landing face first in an incoming wave. Waking up on Christmas morning to the expectant eyes of both her boys, one pair a startling blue, the other a mirror image of her own.

She lets out a choked laugh, wiping the tears she hadn't noticed falling. "Yeah, Castle," she says. "We're having a baby."

* * *

**I might be convinced to turn this into a story, but for now it's just a one-shot. Reviews are lovely and much appreciated, but please, be gentle with me. I'm still new at this.**

**tumblr: katebeckettsboobs**


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